Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey Soup

Turkey soup made with Thanksgiving turkey leftovers. I’ve made this soup every year since I was in college and over the years my process has changed. It’s always an all day event though. The longer it simmers, the better it is. The two ingredients that makes this soup zing are a bottle of beer, and some apple cider. I always use too many kluski noodles so the soup on day two is more like just noodles. But it still tastes awesome.

RECIPES:

Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey Soup

I never measure or write anything down for this. I always wing it, but this is the best I can remember.

I take my biggest pot and put in about 1/3 bottle of white wine. Then I fill the pot about 3/4 full of water. Then I add salt, oregano, thyme, basil, and a few bay leaves. Then I throw in the a turkey leg and a wing, and whatever other scraps look the fattiest. Anything with big chunks of skin. Next I add chopped carrots, celery, and onions. I bring it to a boil and let it cook on low for a few hours.

Then I take the turkey out and cut up all the meat and return it to the pot. I discard the skin and all that stuff. I do keep two bar bones and throw them back in the pot. I’m not sure why, but this is what I do. After the turkey meat is chopped up and added, this is when I pour in a full bottle of beer. It’s different every year. This year I went with Bell’s Winter White. After the beer, I add between 1 and 2 cups of apple cider. Let it simmer for another couple hours.

Then it’s time to add the noodles. Bring it to a boil and add half a bag of kluski noodles and walk away. I always do more, I just can’t stop myself. I never walk away. Once the noodles are done, you’re good to go. But you can let it simmer longer too. This soup tastes the best left over.

THANKSGIVING: ROUND 2

Our big family Thanksgiving is on Saturday and is hosted at my parents house. My mom cooks everything except a few things. My brother made green bean casserole and I always bring the pumpkin pie. But my mom makes the 21lb turkey, stuffing (in and out of the bird), candied yams, corn, brussel sprouts, mashed potatoes, cole slaw, cranberry sauce, bread, apple pie, and cheese cake. Whoa, that’s a lot of cooking! And a lot of eating to do too.

THANKSIVING: ROUND 1

We are lucky enough to have two Thanksgiving meals each year. On Thanksgiving Day, we spend it in the city with our friends Amy and Jamie who live in downtown Detroit. Jamie’s birthday fell on Thanksgiving this year and his family was in town to celebrate and spend the holiday with him. So there were seven of us counting Ellie.

Amy and Jamie prepared most of the food and we just showed up to eat it. We did contribute dessert though.

The menu consisted of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, corn, squash, green peas, sweet potatoes, and green bean casserole. And the for dessert I made a pumpkin pie and a triple chocolate cake, and Jamie’s mom made an apple pie. Yes, three pies for six people. That’s the way to do it.

What a great meal! And just in another day, we get to do it all over again with my family at my folks house!

RECIPES:

Pumpkin Pie

I just got the recipe off the sticker on the pumpkin from the store, but the crust was from the Alton Brown recipe which included crumbled gingersnap cookies! So good!

Triple Chocolate Cake

The cake was rich, yet light and fluffy.

Braised Chicken with Kale

Braised chicken with kale.  This was really really good.  Great flavor, but nice and light.  Kale is one of those vegetables that is really growing on me.  If you don’t like dark meat, I’m sure this would be good with chicken breasts too.

RECIPES:

Braised Chicken and Kale

Beef and Butternut Chili

Beef and butternut chili.  This wasn’t quite a chili, but not quite a beef stew.  However, it was delicious!  I think the spoonful of sour cream was essential while eating to balance out the flavor.  Definitely a good hearty cold day dish.

RECIPES:

Beef and Butternut Chili